INSIDE, OUTSIDE, AND COUNTER SALES ASSOCIATES who have joined Warshauer Electric Supply since 2013 were product-smart and productive within three months of hire, compared with the 12-month ramp-up previously required. “Three years ago, we started buying licenses for NAED’s VIP Core curriculum,” said Jim Dunn, executive vice president for the Tinton Falls, New Jersey-based elec- trical distributor. Access to the 120 online courses con- tained in the VIP Core library, coupled with Warshauer’s double-speed training regimen, has made all the difference. “We used to tell our new hires, ‘You’ll be ready to rock and roll in a year,’ but we’ve pared down the onboarding process. With VIP Core, our new employees are up to speed much faster—nine months faster,” said Dunn. For more than 10 years, Warshauer has mandated that all sales associates, regardless of their tenure with the com- pany, complete one online product course every week, choosing from among the thousands of manufacturer courses available through NAED, IMARK, and Electric- Smarts. “No matter how many years of experience in elec- trical distribution people have, if they’re on the highway standing still, they’ll get run over. With all the changes in arc fault, LEDs, and other technologies, we all need to keep learning. But after 50 classes a year, after a while, we run out of new classes.” Dunn called VIP Core “the perfect supplement, a great curriculum.” With modules on finance, purchasing, com- munications, customer service, ethics, sales, operations, information security, time management, and professional development, VIP Core offers associates unprecedented variety and breadth of exposure to industry and profes- sional topics.